Apparatus for treating seeds



y 7, 1964 s. KATZEN 3,140,254

APPARATUS FOR TREATING SEEDS Filed July 15, 1960 "fllllllllliTlllll INVENTOR SOL KATZEN- BYFW WTQM ATTORNEYS United States Patent APPARATUSFOR TREATING SEEDS Sol Katzen, Industrias Avicolas, Hermosillo, Sonora,Mexico Filed July 15, 1960, Ser. No. 43,052 2 Claims. (Cl. 209-30) Thisinvention is an apparatus for treating seeds, for separating the hullsfrom the more valuable kernels.

The invention is particularly elfective in treating saffiower seed,although the invention is not limited to the treatment of any particularseed. The oil from the kernel of safflower seeds has valuabletherapeutic and other uses.

The principal object of the invention is to crush the seeds so that thehulls and kernels can readily be separated by the various air treatment,dust removal and sifting operations, to be described.

The invention comprises apparatus for treating seeds.

The seeds are first crushed, by rollers, preferably so that the crushedkernels are somewhat smaller than the crushed hulls.

The crushed materials are then passed through a centrifugal blower, theblades of which agitate and aid the separation of hulls and kernel. Thisblower delivers the crushed materials to a dust separator, such as acyclone. The cyclone delivers the crushed materials to an inclinedvibrating screen, of a size for allowing the kernel particles and kernelmeal, to pass therethrough. This screen is preferably provided with acover, and with a transverse deflector. Air from the cyclone blows thecrushed materials over the vibrating screen. The transverse deflector,slows up the progress of the kernel portions, while allowing the airfrom the cyclone, confined by the cover, to blow substantiallyhorizontally to carry away the lighter hulls.

The invention will be described more in detail in connection with theaccompanying drawings, wherein:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of the entire apparatus of the presentinvention.

FIG. 2 is a longitudinal sectional view on line 2-2 of FIG. 1.

FIG. 3 is a view of a detail.

Referring now to these drawings, a housing 2 is provided with a supplyhopper 4 having a rotatable distributing roller 6, which delivers seedonto the inclined walls 8 in housing 2. These walls deliver the seedevenly to a pair of crushing rolls 10. These crushing rolls 10 may beribbed or corrugated or smooth, and are preferably driven at the samespeed in opposite directions by gears The crushed kernels and hulls aresucked into the pipe 12, opening into the bottom of housing 2, pipe 12delivering the crushed materials into the eye of centrifugal blower 14.This blower, due to its whirling action, aids in the separation ofkernels and hulls, and delivers this material into an inclined pipe 16and thence into 3. cyclone separator 18 for removing dust, some of theair from which escapes through usual central exit pipe 19, for carryingaway the dust. Cyclone 18 is provided with the usual exit pipe 19 forthe exit of dust. The cyclone delivers the crushed materials to pipe 20and thence to the separating table indicated generally at 22. Pipe 20 ispreferably of flexible material, such as cloth or light 3,140,254Patented July I, 1964 rubber, to avoid transmission of vibration fromthe separating table to the cyclone. The separating table 22 is providedwith a screen 24 preferably of inch mesh, where safflower seed is beingtreated, and is mounted in conventional manner to permit vibrationthereof. The table has a cover 26, a little above the screen and isprovided with one or more adjustable transverse partitions 28. Eachpartition 28 is pivoted along its lower horizontal edge in contact withscreen 24, while its upper edge is slightly below cover 26. As thecrushed materials progress along the screen, the crushed kernels droptherethrough, the heavier kernels being slowed down by partitions 28 tocause them to pass through the screen, while the air currents fromcyclone pipe 20, confined by cover 26, travelling substantiallyhorizontally, move the hulls over the partitions 28 and along toward thedelivery end 30 of the vibrating table 22. The kernels are collected ina receiver 32 below the table 22.

A conventional drive is provied for the vibrating table 22, comprising ashaft 34 driven by a belt 36 from motor 38. A crank arm 40 actuated bycrank 42, carried by shaft 34 is connected to table 22 for reciprocatingit up and down.

At the feed end of the apparatus, a motor driven shaft 44 operates abelt 46 for driving distributing roller 6, its driving shaft beingconnected by pulley 48 and belt 49 to drive the crushing rollers 10 bygears 11. The blower shaft 48 is driven by belt 50 from shaft 44, theshaft 48 of the blower operating a conventional fan in the blower. Theseseveral drives are all driven from the same shaft 44, so that theirrelative speeds remain the same, with no likelihood of one drive beingtoo slow or too fast than the other.

While the preferred embodiment of the invention has been described insome detail, it should be understood that the invention can be carriedout in other ways, as falling within the scope of the following claims.

I claim as my invention:

1. Apparatus for treating seeds for separating the kernels and hulls,comprising a cyclone separator for removing dust from the crushedkernels and hulls, a separating table operatively connected with thecyclone separator for receiving crushed kernels and hulls and some airfrom the cyclone separator, means for vibrating said separating table,said separating table comprising an imperforate top and a screen spacedslightly below said top, for defining a confined passageway between saidtop and screen for the passage of hulls and some air from the cyclonetherealong, while the crushed kernels pass through the screen, and thehulls pass off the end of the screen, and transverse partition meansabove said screen, positioned intermediate the ends of the table, saidpartition means having its lower edge in contact with said screen andhaving its upper edge spaced at little below said imperforate top, forslowing down the crushed kernels for causing them to pass through thescreen, while the hulls, propelled by residual air from the cyclone,pass over said partition means.

2. The combination of claim 1; wherein said transverse partition meansis variably positionable on a horizontal axis, for controlling itsseparating action on the kernels and hulls.

(References on following page) References Cited in the file of thispatent UNITED STATES PATENTS Mansfield July 24, 1866 Bertelsen et al May11, 1875 Bartholomew Mar. 4, 1879 Cormack Dec. 7, 1886 Davis Oct. 25,1887 Davis Mar. 27, 1888 Smith June 16, 1891 Propfe et al. Apr. 20, 1897Bloom July 14,. 1903 Rowland Oct. 4, 1904 Wear Oct. 10, 1911 Emeneggeret a1 Sept. 17, 1918 4 Crites Mar. 30, 1937 Keys Nov. 19, 1940 SuttonApr. 1, 1941 Bjorklund Nov. 7, 1950 Reed Feb. 6, 1951 FOREIGN PATENTSGreat Britain Aug. 4, 1927 Germany May 30, 1930 OTHER REFERENCES 38, 46,and 48.

1. APPARATUS FOR TREATING SEEDS FOR SEPARATING THE KERNELS AND HULLS,COMPRISING A CYCLONE SEAPRATOR FOR REMOVING DUST FROM THE CRUSHEDKERNELS AND HULLS, A SEPARATING TABLE OPERATIVELY CONNECTED WITH THECYCLONE SEPARATOR FOR RECEIVING CRUSHED KERNELS AND HULLS AND SOME AIRFROM THE CYCLONE SEPARATOR, MEANS FOR VIBRATING SAID SEPARATING TABLE,SAID SEPARATING TABLE COMPRISING AN IMPERFORATE TOP AND A SCREEN SPACEDSLIGHTLY BELOW SAID TOP, FOR DEFINING A CONFINED PASSAGEWAY BETWEEN SAIDTOP AND SCREEN FOR THE PASSAGE OF HULLS AND SOME AIR FROM THE CYCLONETHEREALONG, WHILE THE CRUSHED KERNELS PASS THROUGH THE SCREEN, AND THEHULLS PASS OFF THE END OF THE SCREEN, AND TRANSVERSE PARTITION MEANSABOVE SAID SCREEN, POSITIONED INTERMEDIATE THE ENDS OF THE TABLE, SAIDPARTITION MEANS HAVING ITS LOWER EDGE IN CONTACT WITH SAID SCREEN ANDHAVING ITS UPPER EDGE SPACED A LITTLE BELOW SAID IMPERFORATE TOP, FORSLOWING DOWN THE CRUSHED KERNELS FOR CAUSING THEM TO PASS THROUGH THESCREEN, WHILE THE HULLS, PROPELLED BY RESIDUAL AIR FROM THE CYCLONE,PASS OVER SAID PARTITION MEANS.